Ljubljana, Slovenia
I woke up today after 10:00, showered, dressed, got ready, and walked outside. I walked to the Town Hall and to the Church of St. Nicholas (also known as “Ljubljana Cathedral”), which had a nice bronze doorway on its side that depicted the Ljubljana bishops of the twentieth-century AD and Christ. I then walked to Studentovska Street and followed it up to the trail to Ljubljana Castle. The trail was pretty steep, but not slippery. Once I made it up to the castle, I had some okay views of the city; however, there were far too many trees in the way to enjoy any type of grand view (one option was to pay the fee to enter and climb up to the top of the clock tower in the castle, but I couldn’t bring myself to dish out the euros for the better view that the tower would’ve provided). After walking around the castle, I entered inside and explored what I could for free. I first went up to a terrace to get a decent view of the castle’s courtyard; then I went inside the chapel; finally, I saw some old prison cells that were used during the nineteenth-century AD and up to World War I (for Italian prisoners). After exploring what I could without paying for the entrance ticket that would’ve let me inside two small museums and the tower, I exited the castle and walked back down to the city below. I then walked to Butcher’s Bridge (a modern bridge located between the butcher/dairy stalls at the central market, along the Ljubljanica River) and saw many lovers’ locks, as well as the grotesque and monstrous statues that have been place there (one of them, a devilish looking creature would later be damaged this night and two days later, when I did the free-walking tour, I would discover that it had been taken away to be repaired – no doubt some rowdy British football fans had something to do with it [NOTE: at 18:00 today, England played Slovenia and won 3-2 at Ljubljana’s stadium; therefore, there were a lot of Brits in the city today; there were also many English flags placed by fans on bridges and buildings throughout the city]). After visiting Butcher’s Bridge, I walked to Dragon Bridge, which has two large dragon statues at each end of the bridge and sixteen smaller ones along the rails, under the lamp posts. I then walked through Prešeren Square and back to the hostel. Once back at the hostel, I dropped my camera and gear off in my room and soon set out again, but this time to Atlantis Water Park, located on the east side of the city, at “BTC City” – a shopping area. The walk through the city took me about an hour and I reached the water park at 15:00. I then paid for four-hour use of the “Sauna Land” and a Thai oil massage (scheduled for 19:00). I entered in to the changing room, put my clothes in to the locker, covered myself with a towel, and then walked to the Sauna Land, which has an outdoor pool, several indoor pools, three steam rooms, and many saunas, all with varying temperatures and aromas. I tried out every room available and used the ice bath and showers, mixing it up and trying to get the most of my experience. I also laid out on the sun deck for a while to relax. Overall, it was a very nice place and I felt invigorated after continually moving back and forth between the hot saunas and cold showers. I also had a carrot juice and plenty of water while I was there (actually, I was pretty dehydrated and probably should’ve downed a gallon of water throughout the morning in order to prepare my body for this). At 19:00, I was escorted to the massage room and given a pretty good massage by a Thai lady that lasted fifty minutes (I specifically chose a “Thai oil” massage after my experience in Bangkok, where I received an authentic Thai massage (no oil, just brute force), felt great immediately afterwards, and then felt broken the next day – the real thing was too rough for me). After the massage, I was given some fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapple) and a cup of hot Earl Grey. I was then escorted back to the Sauna Land and enjoyed that for another thirty minutes before exiting and returning to the locker room. I then put my clothes back on, exited the Atlantis Water Park, and walked back to the city center of Ljubljana. By now, the football game had finished and police vans were being placed throughout the city in preparation for all the rowdy fans as they made their way from the stadium to the town to drink heavily. As for me, I walked to a döner kebab stall near the hostel, bought a chicken wrap and two iced teas, and then returned to the hostel to eat my dinner. I then went through the photographs I had taken in Slovenia up to today. I also drank the bottle of Slovenian Rosé I had purchased yesterday (it tasted of strawberries and cherries) and I ate the dates, strawberries, cashews, and chocolate I had bought yesterday as well. I did venture outside a couple times in the night and everything seemed pretty calm, so I guess the football fans were pretty well behaved. Eventually, after 01:00, I tried to go to sleep, but I think I was fully energized after my sauna experience as well as all the sugary fruit I had consumed; also, the room was uncomfortably hot and I had a cough that kept annoying me throughout the night. I did get some sleep, but when I woke up the next day, it felt as though I had been up the entire night.